John Vere

Actually there is one good reason to start using others- eventually they won't work. It's best to keep abreast of software updates. You fall to far behind you'll have issues with that project 3 or 4 years down the road. TTS-1 is a good example. It's just barley co-existing at this point in time. It's going to be a sad day for many when W11 and Cakwalk build 134 kill it. You should not build your house out of crumbling bricks.

All working fine here.

I'm not sure if I'm missing some detail but if I take a clip and drag it over a second clip they seem to merge.

This is an old thread and I’m pretty sure one of the updates fixed this issue and the default settings are now different.

On board audio is when you use the computers sound chip. In your case it is a Real tech. If you use a proper “Outboard “ audio interface then it will come with ASIO drivers and you should always use those when using that device. Glad you got it working.

You cannot use on board audio for recording in sync. Only ASIO mode reports Round trip latency correctly so Cakewalk can adjust your sync. And DON'T use the Real tech ASIO driver as it is reported to be very low quality. You need a proper ASIO audio interface for recording audio with any DAW. On board will work fine for midi and using loops.

Actually I never thought of that. So any one of us could give the OP our copy of Sonar 8.5 as an ISO image and if they have a serial number and activation code they would be good to go. But I have a feeling this OP might not have safely stored that information. They have wandered off anyways so I guess we need more info from them first. @User 905133 I don't see Sonar 8 on my Products page I think it was not part of that system. But then again I might not of bothered to register it. In those days I just would install, use the serial numbers and use it. X1 LE was the first version of Sonar I registered. I still have the original disk for Guitar Studio 6. I got that free with a piece of Roland gear.

Michael not sure you saw my post about using Gold Wave to batch convert the files. Takes seconds. Gold Wave is free to use with a Nag.

Most likely a DPC issue. https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon Run this and give your computer a tune up.

I was just thinking that a great way to make a song more Natural would be to start with a live fee time part like guitar and vocals. Then drag that to the timeline to create a nice tempo map that breathes. I'm working with a bunch of live recording right now and I just love the way the tempo map is always moving up and down by just a little bit. You can actually see the choruses speed up a hair.

Don't own a set of digital drums? You don't need one. We have Drum Replacer = free. All you need is a surface to hit that sound remotely like the drum part you want and any microphone. Works best if you use real drumsticks. ( $ 10 ) Record the part and then use Drum Replacer to turn it into a midi track. I 100% agree with what Bitflipper just said and I was going to say the same. All those Humanizing features do is make it sound like you played real bad and forgot to edit it. Not sure who's idea it originally was but I think it's been responsible for a lot of real nasty sounding drum tracks. So the best way to humanize IS to play it in real time. Example is when I often use my digital drum kit I notice the snare is just a hair early and this pushes the song. I like to make my Kick right on time as well as the Bass to match. But you can certainly push the snare a little.

As Glen has pointed out. WASAPI is the best choice for an audio driver when using on board audio. It has made those other bandaid drivers obsolete. Of coarse you should use the Focusrite ASIO drivers when in use. But you cannot use your laptop audio jacks while using the ASIO audio interface (Focusrite). Just use a 1/8”-1/4” adapter into the Interface headphones jack. I would totally remove the not needed drivers including from the Registry or you will have conflicting drivers. WASAPI out performs those drivers as it is optimized for windows 10 if you do use you computers sound chip instead of you interface.

Yes. Always work with short clips and then render them or bounce.

As far as live recording of audio goes you don’t need much but the interface is the more critical part of the system. Example I can record a 1 hour set of 14 tracks with my Tascam us1641 into a 2008 Sony laptop. It does have a SSD drive and running W7. You need the computer horsepower for processing with plug ins and what not. But live audio recording needs the fast hard drive and of course the interface to get the mikes hooked up.

Here we go again. I actually agree with Steve. Everything was well covered in the last thread. And the one before that and the one before that.

There is no legal way to get 8.5. It’s not for sale by the original vendor anymore. They are long gone. I doubt if there is a legal unopened box sitting around. There will be lots of ripped off copies on eBay. But what sort of fool pays for an old version of free software? If you liked it that much you should have backed it up. I have mine as an ISO file. But it’s registered to me and it’s illegal to resell or copy for any one but me.

Where the confusion comes from is Cakewalks audio engine needs to find an audio driver or nothing happens. It can’t run. it’s an audio program after all. It’s the engine and processing that renders the export data not the actual driver, but the engine does need the driver to run. @Noel Borthwick could hopefully shed some light on this and correct me if I’m wrong . My understanding is the audio engine runs exactly the same in all driver modes. The only difference I’m aware of is the timing offset. Only ASIO reports Round Trip Latency accurately and therefore adjusts the timing offset correctly. At this point in time cakewalk seems optimized for ASIO and WASAPI modes.

Not sure I understand what you mean? You turn off your interface and choose WASAPI mode. I guess some people totally disable the on board audio, I used to but that was back in the dark ages ? Im not sure Cakewalk would even run in that case.

Yes I work a lot on my second computer which uses on board audio. I often export to make proof CD to play in the car. I used to be a none believer in on board audio but since WASAPI mode came along I get very good performance on at least this particular computer. I have 4 Interfaces but I found I don’t need one for this set up. I never record in that room so no need for one. it confuses other family members if I have complicated systems hooked up in the office. But crackles are usually due to CPU and buffer overloads. To many plug ins and VST instruments can do that easily. That’s why many people freeze up as much as they can as you can have a zillion audio tracks as long as there’s no active processing

As said an audio interface has nothing to do with the export. You could use your on board audio and get exactly the same quality file. Have you checked your system with Latency Monitor? Do you have background apps running that could interrupt you processing?

The short answer is yes. I open old projects from 8.5 and even 6 and 7 all the time. I still have 8.5 installed because it came with a few things I still use. So old projects work as expected. CbB is a very much improved version of Sonar. They have focused on bug fixes and you'll find once you get used to the new workspace it's like riding a bike. It is recommended you install your older version first and then install Cakewalk.

Just curious What are the 2 interfaces your testing?

It actually wasn't a Client, It was the other way around I think as he called him "The Hired Gun" so in that case you do have the right to dictate the way you want things. I do believe Michael has payed a drummer to do these tracks. It is different if a client brings tracks to you and askes you to add stuff or mix them.

Just to add, I totally agree about AD mixer interface and how it's limiting. I too have yet to find a Kick or Snare that sounds like what I'm used to in a real kit. I too bought additional kit pieces only to never use them. I do use it in 90% of my tracks and just fudge it into something "OK" For my backing tracks it's perfect as it's simple to use and with the same pre set on all the songs it keeps the live mix in line. I also use Session Drummer which I can plunk my own samples into. I sampled my little drum kit and it's freaky to have SD play my kit. It's very real sounding. I have about 20 snare shots using different sticks and velocity. Too bad I can't layer those but I use the Pad thing for those. But it is an option for you as well. I'm sure your neighbor's won't notice random whacks, bashes and crashes in the middle of the day as you sample your kit.

Well here's a simple solution that will do all 80 (minus the overheads) in one pass. Gold Wave , its free to try but only something like $50 for a lifetime license. Just make a sub folder and point the output to that. It keeps the originals and the mono ones will be in the new folder. I have used the Batch convertor for over 10 years now and it's rock solid. Edit: I just tested this and it works perfectly. Took 10 seconds for 10 stereo songs. The Mono version is exactly the same peak level and LUFS as the stereo version as tested in the YouLean meter. . Check out all those options for the conversion. I don't even think Wave Lab has that many. http://www.goldwave.ca/